It looks like there never will be an anime of Yotsuba&! It may be just as well. Movie adaptations of favorite books are invariably inferior to the originals, no matter how skilled the adaptors, and that probably goes for anime versions of manga as well (I wonder if I would like Cardcaptor Sakura as much if I were familiar with the manga). To assuage your disappointment, there does exist a soundtrack for Yotsuba&!, here and here. (Technically, they’re “image albums” inspired by the manga.) The music is by Masaki Kurihara and the Kuricorder Pops Orchestra, the same crew reponsible for the Azumanga Daioh soundtrack. ((There is quite a bit more music for Azumanga Daioh out there that has never been released in the USA, including a second OST album that is nearly as good as the first.)) Here’s a suite from the first Yotsuba&! album, titled “??????????????” which the Google translator renders as “I stand little risk of saliva.”
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While I’m on the subject of music, here are a couple of a capella pieces that caught my ear. The first is from the Kaiba soundtrack. The second you should all recognize.
Update: Actually, Yotsuba&! has been animated, after a fashion:
“Yotsuba’s Little Great Adventure” is what it seems to translate to. I need to listen to the second soundtrack again, now that winter’s coming.
Apparently Azuma states something sounding like Yotsuba’s style is too idiosyncratic for anime, but I think it could translate well depending on who takes the reins and how they decide to play things like Yotsuba “wasting time.” 😛
I wasn’t sure about the Yotsuba tune until the recorder came in over the guitar lick. Then it seemed perfect. Yeah, the second Azumanga OST is wonderful, and has most of the music for later eps, including the Okinawa episode.
I don’t know if Yotsuba is too idiosyncratic for anime. I would have thought the same for Azumanga, and that turned out to be one of the best things ever.